Is this the end for the infinity pool?

It is amazing how fast the height of opulence can become the nadir of naff. One moment infinity pools – those swimming pools with no edge that create the effect of water extending to the horizon – are the ultimate status symbol for five-star paradises. The next, Peter Mandelson is sploshing about in one.

Nothing sounds the death knell for the infinity pool trade quite like the news that the business secretary spent the weekend running the country from beside a huge infinity pool carved from a rock face on the Corfu estate of the Rothschild family.

Infinity, "disappearing edge" or "negative edge" pools shimmered into our lives in the 1990s. The luxury villas of Corfu, which are well patronised by the sunbathing British establishment, were boasting of their infinity pools long before most of us knew what they were. Now, from Bolton to Littlehampton, every provincial hotel advertises one.

But like many other expensive fripperies, from Cristal champagne to Burberry, the currency of an infinity pool has been devalued not by its association with politicians but with footballers. Rio Ferdinand and his wife honeymooned at a five-star Caribbean resort featuring no less than a two-tiered infinity pool; England's 2006 World Cup team enjoyed the use of one at their training camp and look what good it did them.

Then there is the environmental impact. Plenty of supposed eco retreats advertise infinity pools, which are likely to use more water than a conventional pool, lose more water through evaporation because they can't easily use a pool cover and need more energy to power the recirculation systems that pump overflow water back into the pool.

Status seekers are already looking for the next big thing in high-end "architectural" swimming pools, from glass tiling to simply the most hideously pointless pool of all, a title currently held by the 1km-long pool at San Alfonso del Mar in Chile, which is, illogically, right next to the ocean.

If New Labour is all about infinity pools, then I'm with the Tories: what's wrong with a good old-fashioned moat?